India : The Sangh-nation?

Be it a convenient conspiracy theory or the
great Indian ‘fast’ against corruption, it finds a big-font mention all the
times. Sometimes it deserves, sometimes is blamed, often push-sold. Many among
mainstream politicos are proud of association with it and many others, haughty
to clapperclaw it. It is what primarily demarcates India’s ruling alliance and opposition
bloc, ideologically. It is what makes today’s Congress or mars the BJP or did
the opposite in past. It is the Sangh. And welcome to the Sangh-nation.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or, in
short, the Sangh has been emboldening its presence in every corner, since
founded in 1925 by an ex-Congress politician. From being a small group of
Hindu-rights enthusiasts in Nagpur town to orchestrating the most significant,
democratically elected non-Congress government at the center ever, Sangh is
everywhere. Whether one is for it or against it.

Most recent anti-corruption agitation of
civil societies has brought the Sangh once again to the centerstage of debate.
The two prominent chieftains spearheading these popular movements, Anna Hazare
and Swami Ramdev, have been damned by the government as agents of the Sangh.
There is no lack of evidence that the later has pledged support to both Anna
and Ramdev though.

It was affiliation to the Sangh that did split
the anti-Congress umbrella Janata Party in 1980 and gave birth to nationalist
center-of-right outfit Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 1984 parliamentary
elections, however its journey started with just two seats. Since then, both
the Sangh and the Party identified camaraderie of Hindu Nationalism or
‘Hindutva’ reciprocal to each other. While the party became a political face of
Hindutva, the later continued being back-office mentor.

Today, pan-India unions affiliated to the
Sangh are the becoming pernicious headache to ruling Congress. Not just because
they have outnumbered Congress-affiliated ones but also the shadow of a
potential civil uprising against it. From the largest labor union to the
largest student forum, from the largest farmers’ body to the second largest
political party – the Sangh holds them all. Through its scathing verbal attacks
and ad hominem against the ‘Hindutva’ brigade, Congress shows, battle against
BJP is won, if cement of the Sangh breaks.

The combined resistance, along with Socialites
or samajwadis, that the Sangh
exhibited against Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, a dark-age for democracy, has
drawn many of them closer lately. Samajwadi
icons like George Fernandez and Nitish Kumar have joined the Sangh-shaded
National Democratic Alliance more than a decade back. Both the Sangh and samajwadis have much in common on
matters pertaining to their conservative economic policies. On economic bills and
international affairs, a Sangh-guided BJP, thus, gets natural backing from the
Left and samajwadi pockets, however
different they are on social outlook. Example, from WTO agreement to Nuclear
Liability – take any. It is to note, pro-US BJP ultimately persuaded its
approvers on both, though.

It may sound surprising to learn that BJP,
the political face of the Sangh and chief opposition party, rules over a third
of population of India through provincial governments. Believe it or not,
Narendra Modi, the blue-eyed icon of the Sangh and Chief Minister of the
Gujarat province is immensely popular among the most influential middle-class
people and in any fair poll may emerge to be the most popular candidate for
future Prime Minister.

Congress knows these facts well and has
adopted a well-devised two-pronged strategy to counter the Sangh juggernaut.
One is by over-incentivizing pro-establishment media against it and other is
artificially linking its pro-Hindu stance with domestic right-wing terror. And
they have been quite successful in fanning bees off the Sangh time to time.

But the fact remains that it is either
approval or disapproval of the Sangh that shoots an event up to headlines every
day. One has to be either pro- or anti- Sangh to make it to the power corridors
of New Delhi. And the nation will remain so for a long time till the Sangh
relinquishes or the other, both of which seems far from being achievable. Isn’t
India a Sangh-nation?